


Sleeping Arrangements

by froggydarren



Category: Welcome to PHU Series - Tris Lawrence
Genre: M/M, Multi, Sleeping Together, Triad - Freeform, what happens on the tour bus...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-16 00:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9266531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/froggydarren
Summary: Sequel toClose QuartersWaking up in the tour bus in the middle of a Rory and Thorne sandwich turns out to be both a blessing -- Alaric hasn't slept that well in a while -- and a curse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't know the web serial [Welcome to PHU](welcometophu.tumblr.com), I highly recommend checking it out. 
> 
> (please excuse any crimes against grammar & English in general)

It’s dark when he wakes up, and still warm. It takes him a few minutes to realise that the warmth is because of the two bodies around him, and that it’s dark because of where they are, not because of the time. The “bedroom” in the tour bus is really just a space filled by a mattress as wide as the bus itself, and it’s devoid of windows besides a small one at the back that’s covered by a blind. 

Ric lifts his hand carefully, trying to not disturb Rory with the movement or the lack of contact as his arm was wrapped around Rory’s waist. He squints at the watch, glad that he chose one that glows in the dark. 

“Ugh, s’early,” Thorne grumbles from behind Ric. 

The arm around Ric’s waist tightens, and he shifts back, his body molding to Thorne’s like it’s used to it. In a way he is, from the few times that he stayed over after hooking up with Thorne. Because regardless of how infrequent that was, Alaric knows that his body finds it easy to look for closeness, to crave it. 

But because it’s Thorne behind him, there are other reactions to the contact that his body has developed reflexes for. He can feel Thorne’s fingers on the tiny sliver of exposed skin between the undershirt and the sweatpants, and he shudders when they move. When he feels blood flow down and his cock harden no matter how much he’s trying to ignore the reaction to Thorne, Alaric shifts his hips backwards. He’s still angled towards Rory, and they’re… not like that.  _ Rory _ is not like that, and Ric knows that sex is most definitely something that Rory doesn’t want. 

Of course, Alaric’s movement doesn’t go unnoticed, because that would be too easy.

“Ew, no,” Rory rasps out, his voice still clouded with sleep. “No,  _ no _ , no.” 

He rolls away from Alaric immediately, and the whole bed shakes with the sudden movement. 

“What,” Thorne mumbles, and his fingers twitch against Alaric’s stomach.

It’s not helping the situation at all because of how attuned Ric’s body is to Thorne’s closeness and how it reacts to any kind of his touch. He’s conditioned to respond to it with “sex”, and immediate arousal. Which is the last thing he wants when Rory is also around. They’ve had that discussion. 

“I don’t… I can’t deal with this,” Rory huffs, and he moves to get off the bed. 

Alaric is at a loss. On one hand, he can’t really stop his body’s reaction -- and he kind of doesn’t want to, it’s been a few weeks -- but on the other hand, it’s Rory, and they have a deal about this thing with Thorne. 

“I don’t want to know,” Rory continues as he slides off the mattress. “I don’t want to see it, I most definitely don’t want to be  _ here _ for it.” 

“There’s always the bathroom,” Thorne mumbles sleepily, though clearly amused.

Alaric tries to bat at him with his hand, but misses. He knows that it’s nothing worse than how the brothers usually communicate, but it’s also one of the “not  _ now _ ” moments. They do happen with Thorne more often than Ric cares to remember.

“I can  _ hear _ you from there,” Rory says, sounding annoyed and already stumbling into the narrow passage towards the front area of the bus. 

Alaric winces a little. It’s not the first time that it’s only him and Thorne on the bed, and he knows exactly what happened the last time they were. It was before this tour, when the bus was first booked and Thorne decided to show him around. The curtain between the bed and the rest of the bus was closed, separating the spaces visually. Alaric heard Rory come in and then leave hastily, but he didn’t realise that sound carried  _ that _ well around the space. Which, being more aware now of how small the bus is on the inside and how the curtain doesn’t do anything to block out sound, is something he knows he should have realised.

“Keep it down, please. And Thorne, change the sheets in the morning. Stormy will kill you otherwise,” Rory says sharply while he’s pulling the curtain across the rail, and then he walks off, but not before he pointedly reaches for the noise-cancelling headphones that were hanging on the inner wall of the ‘bedroom’. 

Alaric is still holding still when Thorne’s arm tightens around his waist in an attempt to bring them closer. It snaps Ric out of his thoughts and instead of giving in, he grabs Thorne’s wrist, pulls it away, and then he rolls away. When they’re facing each other -- with a good foot of space between them -- Thorne’s eyes blink open properly. 

“I can’t,” Alaric says. 

He’s not convincing, and he knows it would take Thorne only about a minute to change his mind. But he can’t stand the thought of Rory being angry or upset. 

To his surprise, Thorne doesn’t try to touch him again or talk him into anything. He props his head in an arm and smiles in a way that Alaric can’t quite catalogue yet. It’s soft, fond, and it’s different from how Thorne usually looks at his brother or at Alaric. It’s new, and too complicated to think about. 

“Go, talk to him,” Thorne says when Ric doesn’t move immediately. “You two fix your thing. Not that I think it’s at danger of being broken. Takes a little more than this to screw up you two.” 

Alaric sits up and shakes his head. He knows what’s behind Thorne’s words, but it’s not… he and Rory didn’t talk about those things, there wasn’t a need to. Feelings are complicated, and Ric never really knew how to do any of it. Even now he doesn’t know why he feels the urge to talk to Rory and the fear that he’d screw up what they have. There’s only the certainty that the reaction that Rory had earlier was about more than just his aversion to sex or his refusal to know anything about Thorne’s -- or Ric’s -- sex life. 

When he gets to the front of the bus, he can feel his whole body relax immediately at the sight of Rory stretched out over the entire length of the couch. Alaric moves closer, and notices that Rory’s eyes are closed, so he puts a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Rory doesn’t startle, but his eyes open immediately and he tugs the headphones off. 

“What?” 

“Sorry,” Alaric says quietly. 

It’s not only an apology for disturbing Rory from listening just now. It’s not only saying he’s sorry for his body’s reaction to Thorne. 

“We’re good,” Rory says, like he doesn’t need Ric’s full sentences. 

He doesn’t. Hasn’t for a while now, and it hits Alaric how odd that is. Not even Corbin or Drea understand his silences this well. 

“No, seriously, it’s fine,” Rory says more firmly before Alaric can respond. “This,” he adds, waving a hand between them and then nodding towards the back of the bus, “was bound to get complicated. Confined spaces, complicated shit. I… well, I don’t really get it, but I know how it works in theory, with the whole body closeness. It’s not that big a deal,” he finishes with a shrug of his shoulder. “You’re you, Thorne is Thorne, you’re both into sex and each other.” 

“Well, yeah,” Alaric finally says. “But I know that you don’t… you’re not…” 

“I don’t do sex, no,” Rory says bluntly. “And Thorne  _ is _ my brother. But you know I don’t have a problem with you two doing, well, whatever it is that you’re doing. I just don’t want to  _ be there _ when you are. Or anywhere in the vicinity really. But,” he waves a hand around to point out the bus and its size, “confined spaces, like I said.” 

“Rory…” 

“Seriously, go,” Rory says, but he doesn’t sound annoyed anymore. “We can talk about this some other time,” he adds with a tone that tell Alaric that the only way to continue the conversation would be pushing, and that’s something he doesn’t want to do. 

“Okay,” he concedes. “We’re good?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Rory tells him with a smile.

It’s similar to the one he saw on Thorne’s face earlier, and like then, it seems too complicated to decipher. So he turns when he sees Rory putting the headphones back on and reaching for a book, and walks the few steps back towards the curtain. 

**Author's Note:**

>   
> [my tumblr](http://froggydarren.tumblr.com/) || [Welcome to PHU](welcometophu.tumblr.com)  
> 


End file.
